I love Mexican food. Even quasi-Mexican food. I often have a taco night. I will cook up chicken in the crockpot with taco seasonings and shred. I almost always at least double the recipe. Sometimes even triple or quadruple the recipe so I can freeze some and save for later. This is a very forgiving recipe and is more of a technique or method.

Chicken Taco Meat

4 Servings

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pack of taco seasoning (you can also use homemade and I often do)
1/4 - 1/2 cup of taco sauce or salsa

Place the chicken in a crockpot and sprinkle with the taco seasoning.  Cook on low about 6 hours.  Take 2 forks and pull the chicken into small shreds.  Mix in a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of taco sauce to moisten.  Serve on tortillas with your favorite toppings.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 222
Fat: 8.5 g
Carbs: 1.3 g
Fiber: 0 g
Protein: 33 g

5 WW points

Sunday - Sticky Chicken Breasts, Mashed Potatoes with Corn and Cheese, Green Beans
Monday - Quinoa Mexi 6-Layer Casserole (I’m finally really going to make this - I have it already prepped and in the fridge to bake for tomorrow)
Tuesday - Aztec Chicken
Wednesday - Eat Out
Thursday - Cheeseburger Pasta, Green Beans
Friday - Greek Style Chicken, Potatoes, some sort of green veggie (this recipe is suppose to be for grilled chicken but I will bake mine and throw in some chunked up potatoes)
Saturday - Oven Fried Sesame Chicken, Lemon and Herb Rice,Broccoli

See Org Junkie for more menu ideas!

I kept waiting to post this recipe after I got pictures of the end result.  But even by my standards the pictures were pretty bad.  So I am posting without pictures.  Growing up I thought the only way to serve sweet potatoes was candied.  As in Candied Yams for Thanksgiving, with tons of brown sugar, butter and marshmallows.  Then I grew up and realized you could eat them baked, like a regular potato.  But again, they always had brown sugar and butter on them.  This is a savory recipe - no brown sugar in site.  And I think the salt and garlic powder really compliment the sweet potato.  The original recipe called for pork but I make it with chicken.

Crockpot Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

4 servings

1 lb boneless chicken breast, cut into large chucks
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 lb peeled sweet potatoes, cut into thick slices
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 cup chicken broth

Lay the sliced sweet potatoes in the bottom of the crockpot.  Pour the chicken broth over the potatoes.  Sprinkle with 1/2 the spices.  Lay the chicken pieces onto the sweet potatoes.  Sprinkle with the rest of the spices.  Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 364
Fat: 9.0 g
Carbs: 32.9 g
Fiber: 5 g
Protein: 36 g

7 WW points

This recipe is much better than the name implies.  The name makes me think of some nasty leftover bits of chicken no one wants to eat.  But I got past the name and tried it anyway.  I’m glad I did.  This is a nice simple recipe.  The chicken has a bit of heat to it and a slight Asian flavor.  I got the original recipe here and made a couple of changes to it.  I think I am genetically incapable of making a recipe as it is written.  I almost always make a few changes.  Also I don’t like meat cooked in the microwave so adapted it to the stove top.  Here is my version:

Glazed Chicken Bits

4 Servings

2 Tbs honey
2 Tbs ketchup
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp ginger
2 garlic clove, minced
1 lb boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 Tbs olive oil

Combine honey, ketchup, soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger and garlic in a medium bowl.  Add the chicken and mix.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the chicken and cook about 5-7 minutes, then stir the chicken and cook about 5-7 minutes more, stirring as needed.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 272
Fat: 10.7 g
Carbs: 9.3 g
Fiber: 0 g
Protein: 33.4 g

6 WW points

I wasn’t feeling too good and my menu plan last week got derailed so I moved
some of those recipes to this week.  So that’s why this week looks similar to last week.

Sunday - chicken tacos, refried beans, salad
Monday - Beef tips, mashed potatoes, peas
Tuesday - Crockpot Chicken and Sweet Potatoes (original recipe calls for pork - I use chicken), green beans
Wednesday - Creamy Italian Chicken, rice, veggie
Thursday - Thanksgiving dinner at grandma’s
Friday - Sandwiches, chips, raw veggies and dip
Saturday - Beef and Broccoli, rice, eggroll

See Org Junkie for more menu ideas!

Seasoned Baked Potatoes

4 servings

4 medium baking potatoes (about 1 lb)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4  tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400.  Scrub potatoes and cut into wedges.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleaning.  Spray the foil with non-stick spray so the potatoes won’t stick.  Brush with oil.  Sprinkle with seasonings. Bake at 400 for 40-50 min.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 135
Fat: 3.5 g
Carbs: 24 g
Fiber: 2.5 g
Protein: 2.8 g

2 WW points

This is not so much a recipe as an idea. This is one of those things that anything you have on hand will be good. All you need is a tortilla, sauce, cheese. The rest is optional and depends on what you have in the house.

For this tortilla pizza I used:
1 tortilla
2 Tbs pizza sauce
1 1/2 oz low fat mozzarella
1 Roma tomato, sliced thin
1 Tbs diced canned jalapenos
1 Tbs Parmesan cheese

I preheated the oven to 400 degrees.  I laid the tortilla on a baking sheet, spread the pizza sauce over the tortilla.  Sprinkled with the cheese.  Laid the tomatoes on top and then sprinkled with the diced jalapenos.  I then baked for 10 minutes.

Other topping options that would be good: mushrooms, onions, pepperioni, chicken, garlic, etc.

And if you are out of tortilla, use a pita or an English muffin (though for that you probably need to cut back on the baking time.

The calorie content and Weight Watcher points will vary depending on what type of tortilla you use, how much cheese and what toppings you include.  For the version I made here, it was 4 WW points.

Ok, this recipe is not gourmet.  Its not the best pizza sauce and it sure won’t win any awards.  But it is very easy, very quick and very cheap.  If I don’t have the time or feel like making pizza sauce from scratch or I don’t have any jarred sauce on hand, this this whips up in just a minute or two and it gets the job done.

Quick and Easy Pizza Sauce

8 servings (2 Tbs each)

1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 tsp salt

Put all ingredients in a bowl and stir until mixed.  As simple as that.  Use as needed.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 10
Fat: .1 g
Carbs: 2.3 g
Fiber: .7 g
Protein: .6 g

0 WW points

1 serving of frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
1 egg
1 egg white
2 Tbs skim milk
thinly sliced tomato (I used a Roma tomato)
1 oz of reduced fat cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take a ramekin that holds about 15 oz and spray with non-stick spray. Layer the hash browns in the bottom of the ramekin. Beat the egg, egg white, milk and salt and pepper in a small bowl with a fork. Pour over the potatoes. Lay thinly sliced tomato on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes until almost set. There will still be some liquid in the middle of the dish. sprinkle with cheese and bake 5 more minutes. Let sit for 3-5 minutes.

This dish can easily be doubled, tripled, etc either baking each serving in separate dishes or in one big casserole, although you will definitely need to bake it longer, more like 45 minutes.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 237
Fat: 7 g
Carbs: 25 g
Fiber: 4 g
Protein: 20.5 g

4.5 WW points